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the firm’s electronic record system for its network of 500 physicians and would offer the system to its affiliated network of 1,200 doctors.

Navani says that he is unconcerned about the Caritas Christi-Athenahealth announcement, and that Athenahealth’s electronic record is being offered as an option to doctors who are already using eClinicalWorks.

“We don’t worry about Athenahealth as an EMR company,” he said, noting that Athena is known more for its software service for managing billing and revenue life cycle than its electronic medical records. “We’re focused on what we do well, and we don’t see them often.”

One of the things that eClinicalWorks has done well is sustain its growth and its own corporate culture. It’s well chronicled that Navani, who is one of five co-founders of the company, is steadfast about the firm continuing to expand as a private outfit rather than seeking outside investment or an initial public offering to fuel growth. Also, he said that the firm’s private status enables it to make long-term investments without worrying about how the numbers look in regular quarterly and annual financial reports. For example, he says that the firm paid $2 million to buy its office in the San Francisco Bay Area last year rather than leasing the property, something that costs more upfront yet he believes will save money over a 10-year period.

The company has some ambitious goals. Navani says that the firm wants to increase the number of physicians that use its software from more than 34,000 today to 100,000 within the next seven years. The company is adding 1,000 new physicians every month, he says, so the firm just may reach that goal within that period of time.

“We are at the end of the day a company that wants to be around for the long term,” Navani says. “We make investments with a long-term focus.”